Now on to his third property, 26-year-old Christian Lovatt made a life-changing decision several years ago – stop buying sports cars. “I was really into my cars,” he said. “I was living at home, saving money and buying little sports cars. I got to the point where I thought I needed to cut this out and do something with my money. “So I actually sold the car I had, which was $30,000 at the time, and put that straight into a deposit for a house. “That’s where it started.” Read more: South Coast teen to walk in Victoria’s Secret fashion show Mr Lovatt now owns coffee shops in Shellharbour, Kiama and Calderwood Valley. His first property purchase was in late 2014, a one-and-a-half bedroom townhouse at Kiama that he eventually flipped for a profit. “I bought that before the market had that spike,” he said. “Then two years later I sold it and used the money that I made from that to buy off the plan again at a really good price. “I made a good return which enabled me to go to the next level, which is Bathers Kiama.” He has been renting a room in Shell Cove until his Bathers apartment is ready to move into this month. “It’s not about going out and buying three properties at once, or buying a four-bedroom home for $800,000 right off the bat. “It’s about doing something small and building off the back of that.” Mr Lovatt recently bought, off the plan, a two-bedroom apartment in the new ‘Skye Wollongong’ tower, located on the old Sam’s Warehouse site on Railway Parade. Mr Lovatt plans for his Skye purchase to be an investment property, and continue to live in the Bathers property. Mr Lovatt encouraged others, if possible, to put money into a mortgage and build equity rather than paying rent. “It’s a no-brainer,” he said. “I have already made a huge amount of money from property and as someone in their twenties there is no way I could have done that if I was renting and trying to save.” Skye Wollongong received DA approval several weeks ago. Worth about $30 million, it will have 105 apartments and retail and commercial space over 18 levels. Sales agent, Will Wehbe from St Trinity Property Group said interest in Skye Wollongong “has been very strong; to date we've had more than 400 buyer interest registrations”. Sydney-based developers Level 33 have pledged to begin work by the end of 2018. Read More: Peter Garrett makes $1.2 million return to Southern Highlands